John T. Wasson enlisted on March 31, 1781 as a private under the command of Captain Lawrence Gross in a company of the Tryon County Militia commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Marinus Willett. He fought in the last two engagements of the American Revolution: the Battle of Johnstown on October 25, 1781, and the Battle of Jerseyfield (Battle of West Canada Creek) on October 30, 1781. In the later skirmish the Tory renegade responsible for the Cherry Valley Massacre, Captain Walter Butler, was killed